Cooling Well Water
A Collection of Work By An African-American Bi-Polar Woman

 
“Cooling Well Water: A Collection of Work By An African-American Bi-Polar Woman” is a collection of over 50 inspirational poems, a chilling testimonial of deliverance, and short “episodic” fictional stories creatively written. Readers get a glimpse into one woman's battle and determination to beat the odds of a stigmatized mental illness diagnoses by developing an up close and personal relationship with God. In doing so, she attains spiritual wellness and survives a bad marriage, a severe nervous breakdown, and single motherhood of three children. Can you believe she even has a child with extreme developmental challenges that would send any normal parent to a nearby psych unit? Agnes shows and tells how her life turned for the better after her nervous breakdown instead of for the worse in a very unique!

Through faith, Agnes was able to overcome fear, shame, and abuse that kept her buried in a valley so deep, all she could do was lay in bed day in and day out; scared for her life and of her life and her story serves as an inspiration to other individuals oppressed by society because of any disability.

Ever hear that God has the answer to all of life's questions? Well, He does and Agnes bears her soul to the world that God is real! “Cooling Well Water: A Collection of Work By An African-American Bi-Polar Woman” is all the proof you will need! Enjoy a few excerpts from “Cooling Well Water: A Collection of Work By An African-American Bi-Polar Woman” by clicking above and may God bless you and keep you free from your valley.

Bi-Polar affects over 2 million people in the United States.  It is a stigmatized mental illness that cripples individuals simply on its namesake. Through education and self-determination, an individual can live a productive, compatible life with the illness.  My testimony confirms this. It will encourage readers who are suffering from depression, oppression, and fear to not succumb to a life of pain.  My story will encourage families and friends to approach the sufferer of a mental illness from a new angle.  That is an angle of support and encouragement and not disrespect, stereo-typing, and stigmatizing.
 
This Collection will be targeted to mainstream America, but especially focusing on the African-American race group.  I will be promoting this Collection to organizations specializing in mental wellness such as the National Association of Mental Illness, mental health support groups and organizations, empowerment workshop opportunities, Church groups and associations, organizations that seek to help women in oppressing abusive relationships (i.e., domestic violence), organizations primarily focused on substance users and abusers, and general genres (i.e., Christians, Poetry, Health & Mental Health, Non-Fiction) to name a few.
 
Briefly, I am currently an advocate, part-time teacher, and author.  These accomplishments come in the aftermath of being diagnosed with Bi-Polar and being told by doctors that my diagnosis was so severe, that I should be institutionalized for the remainder of my life.  However, when God gave me a vision for His purpose for me, I asked for the wisdom to realize that vision.  When God turned that diagnosis around for me, I knew I would never, ever stop praising Him! 

How I came to writing Cooling Well Water

I was inspired to write this book by the Holy Spirit to show how God is real and heals us when we seek Him. After suffering a severe nervous breakdown in 1993, I kept having reoccurring visions of what I experienced in the psyche unit. I was unable to live a productive life and as I sought God’s help, I began to write my conversations with God that led me to managing my mental illness and living in compatibility with the illness. This books shows how the average African-American woman has extra burdens to carry and how faith delivered me from the darkness to wellness. This book is hope for women who suffer from domestic violence, substance abuse, single parenthood, discrimination, racism, and other forms of oppression to rise above those obstacles and realize that the baggage might be some form of depression, but it does not have to weigh us down always and forever.

Primary Message in Cooling Well Water

The fact that I am Bipolar and live a productive life. It is unique because I am an African-American who faced the stigma head on and rose above it despite increased odds because of my status in society. This book fully discloses my encounter with God and shows how He lifted me up and out of the psyche unit. The focus of my book is narrowed to the African-American culture because the issues we face because of who we are and the color of our skin played an important factor in both my illness and wellness spiritually. The strength of the book is the revelation that God is real and supernaturally inspiring to give us life with purpose.
 
What the Cooling Well Water book cover means

The book cover art: Snowy Owls has a deep spiritual meaning. Owls represent mainly prophecy and wisdom. Their flight is silent and swift. The owl, thus, is most notable for its awesome and keen vision during blackness. Blackness is where we hide our deep secrets, hurts, sorrows, pains, abuses, shames.

The Snowy Owl specifically is a gentle, teaching, and patient owl species. It enters and leaves an area quietly without claiming its presence. Therefore, the Snowy Owl is reputably very successful at achieving its goals. It is a very powerful and able owl known to be non-threatening and non-intimidating, but extremely skilled at the game of survival.

In addition to the beauty of the white Snowy Owl, is its yellow eyes. Yellow is the symbolic color for divine intelligence. I painted these Snowy Eyes while naive in high school and it has always intrigued me. Obviously, since I held on to this painting for more than two decades, God was surely watching over me even when I believed He had abandoned me. This artwork by me has moved with me through my divorces, nervous breakdown, mental illness diagnosis, the death of my father, and all my trials and tribulations. I would always lose it in the garage or somewhere in my many travels during these trials and tribulations, but my Snowy Owls would always, always find me.

Then I actually learned about the Snowy Owl's spiritual meaning through the teachings of Ted Andrews: "Animal Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great and Small" in 2008. My book will intrigue you. It will inspire you. It will encourage you through your trials and tribulations. The words will come to life off the page and stay with you forever. What better honor than to feature my artwork, Snowy Owls - Copyright 1986, on my first book: "Cooling Well Water: A Collection Of Work By An African-American Bipolar Woman" so that I may share them with you.

Levine-Oliver Publisher

INTRODUCTION

Levine-Oliver Publisher (“LOP”) is a unique self-publishing company founded by Agnes B. Levine.  The purpose of Levine-Oliver Publisher is to raise social awareness of issues that have significant and adverse affects in the African-American family and community.  The primary goal of raising the awareness will be to offer remedies to minimizing the adverse affects through education.  LOP will promote self-determination and self-help to families with an individual suffering with a mental illness known as Bipolar as well as the special needs of individuals with developmental delays through teaching that individual or a family member advocacy skills.  LOP will accomplish this through writing and speaking.

MISSION: To enable an individual and/or family to reach the maximum quality of life through self-help and advocacy by way of literature.

BACKGROUND: Mental illness is an ugly, stigmatized brain disorder causing shame and embarrassment. Currently, there are over 2 million adults in America who suffer from Bipolar (manic depression) or 1 percent of the whole population.  That represents a range of .04 percent to 1.6 percent of adults needing mental healthcare.  Each year, that number will increase tremendously because approximately 3.4 million children already have early on-set manic depression or Bipolar.  The signs of early bipolar include clinical depression in children, ADHD, and attempted suicides.  The average age of Bipolar onset is 20 years old.  Ninety percent of those individuals will have a future manic episode so wellness as early as possible is both important and necessary meaning education of the mental illness is also mandatory. The more education reaches into the community and families, the less shame, suffering, and debilitation of the illness.

The symptoms of Bipolar will affect job performances, socializing, and the quality of life of people as a whole beginning with the family.  Particularly, the African-American family hides mental illness and it then becomes generational. These matters will over-burden an already over-burdened healthcare system in America.

Considering the need for continuous education and the fact that currently over 40,000 books are on the market regarding Bipolar, there are merely only 33 books on the topic targeting the African-American community. The African-American community is the focal point of LOP because of this. Therefore, LOP will publish its first book:  “Cooling Well Water: A Collection of Work by an African-American Bi-Polar Woman” in time for a winter 2008 release.

This book crosses into multiple genres such as Christianity, Spirituality, Biographical/Memoirs, Literature and Fiction because of the inspirational and show-all collection of poems, short stories, and testimony.  The book contains prophecy causing it to reach into the supernatural market as well.  The message specifically for the African-American community, which is widely known for its strong spiritual beliefs, is the spiritual healing powers along with therapeutic medication.